Teresa Roberts has joined the UB Global staff as part-time administrative assistant. She takes the place of Angela Vincenti, who had served in that role since January 2021 (Angela has taken a position at Emmanuel Community Church in Fort Wayne, Ind.).

Teresa grew up in Columbia City, Ind., and graduated in 2009 from Anderson University with a degree in Elementary Education. During college, she participated in two short-term mission trips to Romania. During that second trip, she felt a definite call to missions.

Her husband, Dave, grew up partly as a missionary kid in Panama, where his father served with HCJB Radio. He experienced his own call to missions during a trip to Guatemala. After getting married, they explored various mission opportunities, but every time they thought God was leading in a certain direction, the door would close. But they remained willing. Then, in 2015, they discovered Cornerstone Foundation while attending the Urbana missions conference and were immediately drawn to it. They were accepted, and in March 2017 found themselves on the field in Honduras.

Dave and Teresa served five years at the Loma de Luz hospital on the north coast of Honduras (where Christy and Rigo Andino are serving). This full-service hospital is the hub for a variety of other ministries, including education, foster care, agriculture, and community development. Dave handled maintenance for everything, while Teresa taught first grade for four years.

The Roberts family concluded their service with Cornerstone in 2022 and returned to Fort Wayne. Dave now works as an engineer with Bendix. They have two children, Levi and Zoey, and are in the process of adopting two children from Honduras.

Dr. Ron Baker

Dr. Ron Baker, 76, a former UB missionary doctor in Sierra Leone, passed away on Friday, March 10, 2023, in Berrien Springs, Mich.

Visitation: 5-8 pm Friday, March 17, 2023.
Funeral: 10 am Saturday, March 18, 2023, with visitation one hour beforehand.
Visitation and Funeral Location: Berrien Center Bible Church, 8830 M-140, Berrien Center, MI 49102 (berriencenter.church)

Ron grew up mostly in Sierra Leone, West Africa, where his parents, Dr. DeWitt and Evelyn Baker, were United Brethren in Christ missionaries. In 6th grade, at the Kabala-Rupp school for missionary children in northern Sierra Leone, he committed his life to Jesus Christ. He was able to immerse himself in the local language and culture, which would serve him well when he came back as an adult to serve as a missionary doctor.

Ron graduated from Huntington University, where he met his wife, Jane, and from Indiana University Medical School. In 1974, the Bakers arrived in Sierra Leone as fulltime United Brethren missionaries. Ron become Chief Medical Officer at Mattru Hospital. During the next 16 years, Mattru became a thriving, well-known hospital with a strong spiritual foundation. By 1981, the hospital had grown to 69 beds with pediatrics, obstetrics, surgical, and out-patient units. Many new buildings arose on the hospital’s 15 acres.

Being one of only a few white men who were fluent in Mende, the local language, Ron was greatly respected. He recalled years later, “Every time we did surgery, we prayed out loud. We had guys who could pray in several different languages. I could pray in Mende or Krio, Solomon could pray in Temne or Sherbro, another guy could speak Limba. We couldn’t speak all of the languages, but we covered a lot of them.” The locals were also drawn to him and his family due to the love of Christ demonstrated to them.

Upon leaving the field in mid-1990, Ron began working permanently at Southwestern Medical Clinic in Stevensville, Mich., where he had worked during his furloughs since 1981. It was a way-station of sorts for a number of missionary doctors. Over the years, Ron made a number of trips back to Sierra Leone, often leading short-term medical teams.

Ron’s motto was “Work Hard. Play Hard.” He loved to share his passion for hunting and fishing, mentoring many in the craft. Ron was very active at Berrien Center Bible Church. Most importantly, throughout his life he made it a priority to share his faith with countless people in the US and overseas.

Ron was preceded in death by his parents, Dr. DeWitt and Evelyn Baker; and his younger brother, Norman, who was killed as a boy in a boating accident while on a school trip in Sierra Leone. He is survived by his wife Jane; children Jennifer, Jeff, and Julie and their families; and sisters Joyce Hewitt and Annette Shepherdson.

As an expression of sympathy, memorial contributions may be sent to Huntington University (huntington.edu), UB Global (ubglobal.org), or Berrien Center Bible Church (berriencenter.church).

Messages and memories may be shared online at allredfuneralhome.com.

Phil Fiedler

Philip Arthur Fiedler, 85, of Olive Branch, Miss., passed away January 26, 2023. He and his wife, Carol, served many years as UB missionaries in Sierra Leone–during the 1970s as maintenance superintendent, and later returning to teach at Sierra Leone Bible College in the Freetown area. They, along with nurse Sara Banter, were the last UB missionaries to be evacuated during the country’s civil war of the 1990s. It would be another 15 years before UB missionaries were once again sent to Sierra Leone.

Phil Fiedler was born in 1937 in Columbia City, Ind. He and Carol, who preceded him in death, were married in 1958 and had four children–Glenn, Greg, Galen, and Tanya.

Phil was a faithful believer in Christ, had a lifelong passion to share the Gospel with others, and lived as God’s ambassador to all. He served in many capacities including public schoolteacher, church songleader, Sunday school teacher, and Spanish teacher. He was a faithful member at Longview Heights Baptist Church in Olive Branch, Miss.

The family asks that memorial contributions be made to UB Global. You can donate online at ubglobal.org/give. Or send a check to: UB Global, 302 Lake Street, Huntington, IN 46750. Include a note saying your gift is in memory of Phil and Carol Fiedler.

There will be no memorial service at this time, but one will be held perhaps later in 2023. The family would like to express their appreciation to everyone for their prayers and loving support.

Rev. Russ and Nellie Birdsall

Nellie Birdsall passed away Monday, January 16, 2023. She and her late husband, Russ, who passed away in 2021, were United Brethren missionaries in Sierra Leone and Macau, and served ten years in pastoral ministry.

Visitation: 3-7 pm Friday, January 20.
Visitation location: Bailey Love Funeral Home, 35 West Park Drive, Huntington, IN 46750
Funeral: 12pm Saturday, January 21, 2023. Visitation one hour beforehand.
Funeral location: College Park UB church, Huntington, Ind.

Nellie was born in Chambersburg, Pa., in 1931 and grew up there. She and Russ met at Huntington University and were married in 1951. On September 4, 1957, they and their young daughter, Sharon, boarded a ship for Sierra Leone, where they served as UB missionaries for the next 11 years.

In July 1968, the family returned to Huntington at the request of Dr. DeWitt Baker, another former Sierra Leone missionary, so Russ could become dean of students at Huntington University. Nellie was a public schoolteacher in Huntington for 22 years. She held masters degrees in Education and in Counseling from Indiana University-Fort Wayne.

In 1979, Russ and Nellie began ten years serving the New Hope UB church in Huntington, Ind. Between 1994 and 2006, they served seven times in Macau as short-term missionaries, always going at their own expense. They taught in the English Language Program, conducted Bible studies, and provided pastoral care for the other missionaries.

Russ passed away in February 2021. Nellie is survived by their only child, Sharon Cherry, who lives in Huntington with her husband, Kevin.

At the time of her death, Nellie was a member of College Park UB church in Huntington. Preferred memorials are to Huntington University or UB Global, in care of Bailey-Love Mortuary, 35 West Park Drive, Huntington, IN, 46750.

Courtney Waterman joined the UB Global team as an associate director on November 1, 2022. She and her husband are members of Emmanuel Community Church in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Courtney grew up mostly around Buffalo, New York. She attended her first Bills game at age five and rejoices at the team’s current success.

Courtney attended DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., where she earned an Economics degree. There, she met her husband, John, a fellow Economics student. After seven years in Chicago, they moved to John’s hometown of Fort Wayne, where he took a position in his father’s company.

After doing tech consulting for a number of years, Courtney went to cooking school and then ran her own catering business for a few years. Then she returned to consulting, and during the past 12 years worked for Salesforce.com.

John and Courtney began attending Emmanuel Community Church about 13 years ago. There, she became deeply interested in missions, going on short-term trips, joining the missions team, and serving in volunteer and board leadership at various nonprofits.

For about five years, Courtney had been praying, “God, I love my job and enjoy the people, but you know my interests and skills. If you have something else for me, make it happen.” So when Frank Yang contacted her about joining the UB Global team, she was ready. The position matched her skills with her passion for missions.

Frank said, “I’m excited about Courtney joining the UB Global team. Her decades of non-profit leadership, involvement in many short-term mission trips, leadership on the church missions board, and her management and leadership experience as a director of Salesforce will be a great asset to our team.”

Harold Hancock, a UB Global missionary, passed away August 1, 2022. Both visitation and the funeral will be held on Saturday, August 6, at New Hope UB church in Camden, Mich. Harold and his wife of 53 years, MaryAnn, served eight years as UB Global missionaries in Jamaica, concluding in 2020.

Visitation: 11am – 1pm Saturday, August 6, 2022.
Funeral: 1:00 August 6, 2022.
Location: New Hope United Brethren Church, 5051 W. Montgomery Road, Camden, MI

Harold and MaryAnne Hancock joined the UB Global staff in 2012 and served at Jamaica Bible College in Mandeville, Jamaica (now Regent College of the Caribbean). Harold spent his career working in various trades–welding, electrical work, plumbing, etc. He taught those skills at a vocational high school located on the college campus, while MaryAnn worked in the college library.

Harold and MaryAnn have eight children. They have been longtime members of New Hope UB church. MaryAnn worked many years there as administrative assistant for the church and the former New Hope Christian School.

View Harold’s online obituary here.

The UB Global team (l-r): David Kline, Angela Vincenti, Frank Yang, Michelle Harris, and Steve Fish.

In August, Michelle Harris will conclude six years as an associate director of UB Global. Michelle will work full-time this year on writing her doctoral dissertation on community-based resettlement of refugees. After that, her hope is to focus her work and ministry in Fort Wayne, where she lives.

She writes, “It has been a privilege to serve the United Brethren in Christ Church through UB Global these last six years. I have been blessed to serve on this team with gifted and godly people.”

Michelle joined the UB Global team in 2016 with over 25 years of cross-cultural experience in mentoring, training, and teaching in a variety of settings. Her responsibilities with UB Global have included overseeing our partnership with Mattru Hospital in Sierra Leone, working with short-term mission teams, and using her gifts in writing.

In 2012, Michelle and her family moved to Fort Wayne, Ind., after serving in cross-cultural ministry with college students with InterVarsity Link—8 years in France, and 11 years in the African nation of Gabon. Since returning to Indiana, her husband, Scott, has continued working for InterVarsity. They are members of Anchor UB church in Fort Wayne. Scott and Michelle’s son and daughter-in-law, Justin and Lydia, will be serving with InterVarsity Link in France beginning in September.

We thank Michelle for the valuable contributions she has made to United Brethren missions during the past six years and wish her the best in whatever comes next.

 

Roger and Marilyn Reeck have been endorsed UB missionaries since the 1970s, serving with Wycliffe in Mexico and Honduras (where they continue living). They sent this update on February 24:

One time someone told me, “When a person retires they need to sit under a coconut tree in a hammock and sip on Coke all day long”——-Naught! Not the retired people we know! God has given us so many opportunities since we retired at the end of July.

We returned to Honduras at the end of September. Since then Marilyn has led four Healing Groups and three Trauma Healing Trainings. In December, she began mentoring four very capable and committed young people to continue on doing Healing Groups here in Honduras in her absence. We have several churches who have requested that we hold one for their congregation, so there are many opportunities ahead. It is such a blessing to hear the testimonies of people being healed from so many of their hurts.

Roger continues on doing Bible translation with language groups in Guinea Bissau by Zoom. One of the groups that he has been working with over the last 8 years just completed the translation of the whole New Testament! His next assignment is with a language group called Manjaco, and they will be working on the book of Esther.

We now leave back to San Antonio for three months. Part of the time we will be visiting churches in the eastern part of the US. Roger is flying straight to the US and Marilyn is stopping off in Mexico. She will be holding a Healing Group for Huastec Indians February 28-March 5. It is a large group of one and a half million speakers. There are New Testament translations in the 3 different dialects of the language. This is the first step toward producing Story Based Trauma Healing in their language. Another couple will help with the Healing Group and then Marilyn will stay on for a few days mentoring the translation team in how to produce the materials in their own language. We are very excited about this new Project!

God has been so good to us and we praise Him for His goodness to us. We thank Him for letting us continue serving Him, for His protection and His wonderful provision. We praise Him that so many of those who have supported our work for so many years are still being supportive during this new phase in of our lives.

Randy and Toni Fennig

Randy Fennig, 67, passed away November 11, 2021, at his home in Portland, Ind. He had served as a UB pastor for ten years, as a UB missionary in Sierra Leone for three years, and as a member of the UB Global Leadership Team.

Visitation: 4-7 pm Monday, November 15, at Williamson-Spencer and Penrod Funeral Home in Portland, Ind.
Funeral: 11:00 am Tuesday, November 16.
Funeral location: Westchester United Methodist Church, 4487 E. 400 N. Portland, Ind.

Randy grew up on a farm in Indiana and earned a degree in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University. He and Toni had served for a time with Africa Inland Mission in Mozambique.

Randy was senior pastor of Prince of Peace UB church (Springfield, Ohio) from 1998-2008. He was ordained as a United Brethren minister in 2002.

In 2008, Randy and his wife, Toni, moved to Sierra Leone. Randy taught at Evangelical College of Theology in the Freetown area, a seminary which trains many of the UB pastors in Sierra Leone Conference, and also engaged in agricultural development.

The Fennigs concluded their ministry in Sierra Leone in 2011, and returned to the States in August of that year.

During October, you’re invited to participate in “A Different Kind of Thailand Experience.” There will be four one-hour Zoom sessions. You can register for all sessions, but join those you are most interested in. You’ll also follow Steve Fish and Isa Rivera as they travel to Honduras to meet with the Nunez family, who are preparing to serve with the UB team in Thailand. There is no cost, but you need to sign up here.

One trip to follow online:
Follow Steve Fish & Isa Rivera to La Ceiba, Honduras on FB and Zoom to meet the Nuñez Family, who are candidates to join our team in Thailand.

Four one-hour Zoom sessions:

  • Talk discipleship with US Bishop Todd Fetters.
  • Talk incarnational ministry with Roger and Marilyn Reeck
  • GLOBAL ZOOM CALL – join UB leaders and other believers reaching the Northern Thai from around the world.
  • Speak with Thai students and HU TESOL students in conversational English.

What you invest:

  • NO COST. We are thankful for donations towards Steve and Isa’s travel costs.
  • Register for all sessions, but join those you are most interested in.
  • Let’s all join together for the GLOBAL ZOOM CALL on Oct. 22/23.